We are introduced to a young new hero, for a new era in the form of Blue Beetle, played by rising young star Xolo Mariduena from Netflix’s Cobra Kai. In his first starring feature role in film he plays a young, bright, goodhearted Latin/American college graduate Jaime Reyes who gets chosen to become the modern incarnation of ‘The Blue Beetle’ whether he likes it or not. He begins a down path of a new destiny that was not his original plan, and has to find his way for not only himself but family and friends to embrace all that comes with it. Jaime Reyes returns home to Palmera City from studying Law at university in Gotham with idealistic hopes and dreams to find a better life for himself and his family. But things take a turn when he finds out that his family has not been completely honest with him about everything. They are in bad debt and are about to lose their home. There is rising debt amongst the the gentrification going on in the city and rising property prices due to to the influence of Kord Industries who has a stranglehold on Jaime Reyes’ hometown. This is very true to the current climate in a lot of major cities around the world. Mariduena is supported by a very talented cast of actors including newcomers such as Brazilian actress Bruna Marquezine as Jenny Kord, Belissa Escobedo as Jaime’s younger sister Milagro, and veteran and legendary actors George Lopez and Academy Award Winner Susan Sarandon as Victoria Kord. Blue Beetle is a fun, action-packed, sci-fi movie with a lot of heart and some dark moments. Within the story there is a power struggle going on between Kord Industries CEO Victoria Kord and her niece, the heir to the company Jenny Kord. While Victoria is focused on weaponizing the scarab which gives the Blue Beetle its powers to make the company wealthier and weapons more advanced by any means necessary with her genius and ruthless ambition, Jenny wants to carry on her father’s legacy of giving back to humankind. Her smart and resourceful niece Jenny steals the alien technology and gives it to Jaime Reyes who also happens to have a crush on her for safekeeping whom he meets when interviewing to work at Kord Industries. He inadvertently unlocks the scarab and Alien Technology, who picks him to take up the mantle. The transformation scene which happens at his home looks terrifying, chaotic, and funny with great physical comedy from the whole family who witnesses Jaime become the Blue Beetle in front of them. The Blue Beetle suit gives Jamie Reyes the ability to summon any weapon he can imagine, along with flight and superhuman enhanced abilities thanks to how the parasite-like advanced alien technology entity fuses with its host. The alien-like Artificial Intelligence is voice by the talented actress and singer Becky G. Jamie learns a lot through battling adversaries such as Victoria Kord and his counterpart Carapax – that nobody is simply born with a dark heart or evil inside, and that circumstances and perspectives play a massive part. Through his own experiences and heartbreak he faces trials and tribulations that will test his own morality and integrity to stay in the light or embrace his own darkness.
Directed By:
Angel Manuel Soto
Starring:
Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damían Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Raoul Max Trujillo, Belissa Escobedo, Harvey Guillén, with Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez
From Warner Bros. Pictures comes the feature film “Blue Beetle,” marking the DC Super Hero’s first time on the big screen. The film, directed by Angel Manuel Soto, stars Xolo Maridueña in the title role as well as his alter ego, Jaime Reyes.
Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero BLUE BEETLE.
Starring alongside Maridueña (“Cobra Kai”) are Adriana Barraza (“Rambo: Last Blood,” “Thor”) as Jaime’s grandmother, Nana, Damían Alcázar (“Narcos,” “Narcos: Mexico”) as his father, Elpidia Carrillo (“Mayans M.C.,” the “Predator” films) as his mother, Bruna Marquezine (“Maldivas,” “God Save the King”) as Jenny Kord, Raoul Max Trujillo (the “Sicario” films, “Mayans M.C.”) as Carapax, with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (“Monarch,” “Dead Man Walking”) as Victoria Kord, and George Lopez (the “Rio and “Smurf” franchises) as Jaime’s Uncle Rudy. The film also stars Belissa Escobedo (“American Horror Stories,” “Hocus Pocus 2”) as Jaime’s sister, Milagro, and Harvey Guillén (“What We Do in the Shadows”) as Dr. Sanchez.
Soto (“Charm City Kings,” “The Farm”) directs from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (“Miss Bala”), based on characters from DC. John Rickard and Zev Foreman are producing, with Walter Hamada, Galen Vaisman and Garrett Grant serving as executive producers.
The director’s creative team behind the scenes includes director of photography Pawel Pogorzelski (“Midsommar,” “Hereditary”), production designer John Billington (“Bad Boys for Life”), editor Craig Alpert (“Deadpool 2,” “The Lost City”), Oscar-nominated costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo (“Jojo Rabbit,” the “Thor” films), visual effects supervisor Kelvin McIlwain (“The Suicide Squad,” “Aquaman”) and composer Bobby Krlic (“Midsommar,” the “Snowpiercer” series).
A Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation, a Safran Company Production, “Blue Beetle” soars into theaters only internationally beginning August 2023 and in North America August 18, 2023. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Blue Beetle will be released in the UK on 18th August 2023 by Warner Bros. Pictures.
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